Brno, July 31 (BD) – South Moravian courts are the slowest in the whole Czech Republic in resolving civil cases. If you are planning to get a patent or have an ongoing divorce case, buckle up for a 500-day process. Unfortunately, this is not the kind of situation where the slow and steady wins the race; courts have to be efficient.
Czech Ministry of Justice released the numbers of days court cases take on average last week.
Civil cases in Brno-město take on average over one year and half – 593 days – to be resolved. Brno-venkov court that covers the surroundings of Brno is not much better with 371 days. Břeclav comes second from the bottom of the list of the Czech courts with average 554 days for proceeding.
A shortage in judges
The reason is quite trivial – a shortage in judges and administrative staff.
Municipal Court of Brno has recently lost a quarter of their judges due to retirement, said Petra Hovorková. Although, the representative of the court says that the situation is expected to improve in the next two years.
Břeclav faces a historical problem that slows down the judiciary process. It is a former territory of the Sudetenland – territories that were occupied by the German speaking population during the WWII. This fact leads to frequent disputes about the property rights. Furthermore, there are only 10 judges in the civil court of Břeclav.
In comparison, the civil court of Prague closes a case in only 199 days.
On the other hand, South Moravian courts have the best results dealing with criminal offences. An average, a criminal case is solved in 130 days.
